Opportunity Knocks Twice
by Hope Wheeler
Summary: PostWindows of Opportunity conversation between Jack and Sam. JS


"What'cha doin'?"

It wasn't the question that bothered her; in fact it she would have to admit it was a common and innocuous one. Usually. She glanced up at him, confirming that he was in his usual stance of casually leaning against the door frame, the position he took just before making himself comfortable in one of the chairs. "Working on a report, sir," Carter replied, going right back to her work without sparing him a second glance. It was clear that something was bothering her, but it really wasn't his fault. He just had terrible timing.

"Um, let me try that again – what's up?"

She looked away from her laptop, but not directly at him, her gaze off to one side. "Honestly, sir," she began a bit hesitantly. "It's this whole time loop issue that's kind of bothering me."

"Oh," Jack replied slowly. "Well, I don't even want to pretend to understand all of the physics and technical-"

"That's not exactly what I meant, sir," Sam replied, biting her lip. Unintentionally talking over his head with techno babble was one thing, but this was far more awkward.

"Oh?" Her CO repeated, eyebrows rising with the tone of his voice. It figured he wasn't going to get out of this one free. But that didn't mean he had to admit anything without being asked first _specifically_.

Carter's frown deepened. Clearly, he was determined to make this as difficult for her as possible. Probably hoping that she'd just leave it, but something told her that she really shouldn't. "I realize that you said you didn't do anything to take advantage of the situation, but…I somehow have the impression that isn't entirely true."

Jack made a face while she wasn't looking. His next mission was a talk with Daniel about the proper times for one to keep one's mouth _firmly_ closed. He tried to quickly decide what to say, knowing that if he stalled, she would know something was up. Carter was using vague terms and disclaimers as though she wanted him to deny it. All he'd have to say was a firm "No, of course not," and it'd be over.

Sam looked up at Jack expectantly as he seemed to stall. "Sir?"

Okay, why did she have to look at him like that, for cryin' out loud. "Well, I…" Jack scratched his head, searching for another tactic. Man, was this awkward. "What makes you ask that, anyway?"

"Well, sir, theoretically speaking, you…and have done anything while you were in the time loop, without consequences. And I was just wondering…" she paused, feeling her face heat up. Maybe she was being ridiculous; maybe she was making a crazy assumption…

Jack nodded slightly, and motioned toward a chair across from her. "May I?"

Sam nodded and swallowed hard. This certainly couldn't be good – it had to mean that she had been correct in her suspicion.

Jack closed the door and made his way over to the chair in what seemed like slow motion to Sam. "So…well, I guess some interesting things happened. Um, besides the golfing, juggling, and the bike…"

Sam's look as she appraised him was far from one of amusement. What was he holding back? Would she even want to know? Her eyebrows raised in anticipation as she waited for him to continue.

"And," Jack started again, clearing his throat first. "I handed in my resignation to Hammond – you shoulda seen the look on his face," he said with a grin, though it faded quickly as he could hear Carter's fingers tapping impatiently on the side of her chair.

"And why would you do that?" she asked tolerantly, though it was obvious her patience was quickly running out.

"Because, I, uh, well," his voice dropped lower as he finished. "I wanted to kiss you." Immediately after this revelation, he closed his eyes. Well, at least that was over. He opened his eyes again, looking for some clue as to her reaction.

Sam's face wrinkled in confusion. "You wanted to…what?" She felt the heat rise in her face and was immediately concerned that he would see her blushing. "I…I'm not sure what to say, sir," she added, looking down as if to focus on her work.

"I'm sorry," Jack stated awkwardly as he got up to leave. At least she hadn't gotten really upset and blown up at him over it. And, even better news was that he had the ability to make her blush. That was definitely cool.

"Sir?" Sam asked hesitantly, not yet looking up.

"Yeah, Carter?"

"Um, so…nothing else happened?" Sam asked, once again watching him as she waited for his response.

Jack shook his head quickly. "No, of course not. I shouldn't have done what I did, I guess I wasn't thinking," he added weakly.

Sam nodded, and then her head went back down all the way again, as she resumed working on the report, though she knew it would be difficult to focus now. After a few short moments, she glanced back up to see if he was still there. "Sir?"

"Sorry, just wondering what you're thinking," he explained as he stood in the doorway.

Sam's face turned pink again as she considered him knowing exactly what her last thought had been.

"Oh, boy. Now you've got to tell me," Jack said with a mischievous grin. "Possible retribution if you ever have the opportunity to be stuck in the same day over and over?"

She bit the top of her bottom lip as she considered her response. Did she dare tell him the truth? "No, nothing like that, sir," she replied with a nervous chuckle. "I was actually thinking…it was just too bad that I had to-" She stopped when she saw the partial face and waving hand in the door's window. "Um, I think someone's at the door."

Jack took a moment to respond, still waiting for her to finish her statement. With a slight gesture of disappointment he turned and opened the door partially.

"Ah, there you are, Jack. I've been looking all over for you," Daniel greeted. "Oh, hey, Sam," he added, glancing past Jack.

She smiled in response and sighed in relief to herself at the interruption.

"Anyone ever tell you that you've got really really bad timing, Jackson?" Jack fairly growled, but there did seem to be somewhat of a friendly nature to it.

"Um, no. Did I interrupt something?" Daniel asked.

"No, of course not," Jack replied sarcastically, but the archaeologist failed to catch it. "So, Carter, we'll discuss that…thing…you're working on later, okay?" he added looking back at her before walking out without giving her a chance to respond.


End file.
